Inflatable ball



oct. 22, 1940.

P. s. MADSEN 2,218,919

INFLATABLE BALL Original Filed Aug. 26, 1955 Bwvcntoz.

Patented Oct. 1940 I lUNI-'111D As'rA"ras` yINFLATABLE BALL l PaniSQMadsen, Bethany,l Conn., assiinor; by mesne' assignments, to TheSeamless y Rubber-` Connecticut Company, yNew Haven, Conn.,axcorporationfd substituts yfor 'application sei-n1 No. 686,963,111.- mize, 1933; 'rms-application .um zo, 1937.

Serial No. 150,923

A `5 Claims. This invention relates toinfiatable balls such asfootballs, the present application being a sub-- stitute for myapplication filed August 26, 1933.

The invention has particular application to football bladders but it maybev used in other connections. Football bladders of the at or unmoldedvariety have the objection that they Serial No. l686,963,

lack toughness and homogeneity andtheir wallsk .are of varying thicknessor strengthat different points in the bladderl so that when the bladderis inflated it is lopsidedor outofround. Where,

for example. the wallof'. the bladder is somewhat thinner in onelocality than in* others, the tendency is forthe bladder `to bedistendedunduly in that locality whenair is pumped 'into thev bladder sothat the latterwill not have thev desired shape.

It has been proposed heretofore to provide bladders formed by molding,but such bladdersv are usuallytoo heavy and not of `one solid piece, andinmany cases they have had weak places in their walls or places Wherethe necessary resiliency was lacking. Astructure ofthis kind `isobjectionable because. it is` obviously desirable toobtain the sameaction from the football when kicked at any point in its surface. 1

One of the objects of my :invention is lto over come the above-mentioneddefects.

Another object is to provide an improved inilatable ball and inparticular an improved bladder structure for'footballs and likeballs'.

To these and other endsk the invention consists in the novel featuresand combinations of parts to be hereinafter describedv and claimed.

- In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation. of a football bladder constructed inaccordance with my4 invention, the same being shown in the inflatedcondition;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; A

Fig. 2A is a view on a -considerably enlarged scale of a portion of Fig.2;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the bladder;

(ci. 'ziassi it' is ,to be understood institue invention is ap.,

plicable to footballs and other balls-,of rspherical and other shapes- AIn Figs. 1, `2. and'3` Ilhaveshown the vbladder only, lbut "in Figs. 6andi?? fthe outer element orf caseis also shown. The-bladder iiishownbyway-of Veinample 'in Figs; 1, Iand l3'. isl a molded.

bladder ofy ovalshape havingv `at one side and"y indicated generally by'reference character Ii.

'I'he structureof the'valve ii may vary within midway of the lengththereof 'an inflatingvalve-` widelimits withoutv departing:- from l thescope of my invention, as will hereinafter appear. The

bladder is preferably made of da" fairly heavy gauge of rubber and .hason-its. 'innery surface a..

number 1 ci? inwardly projecting reinforcing; ribs.y

which materially assist in maintainingthe prop=V er shape of the bladderwhen the latter is vinfiateci.l The arrangement 'ofithereinforcing' ribsmay be considerably varied, butin thev instanceillustratedtheseribsextend-lengthwise of the oval b1adder,there being in-f all two'rlbs,eachr lying in a single plane land intersecting the plane of the otherrib. In thisparticular'case the ribs, intersect each otherat-an'angle-01590".` butofv coursethis is susceptible,of-'modiflcation.'The ribscross; each other yatthe. ends of 'the bladdenf as shownparticularly inrFigs; 2 and3'.: One o i' the ribs'is indicated at I2'and the other at i3,l

and their points of intersection are indicated at I4.Thesepointsofintersection are at the tips or poles of the ball. Thevalve ii is prei'- erably located midway betweeny rib; i2 and rib Il',but this is not essential.'v Thelfvalve structure may comprise'anoutertubular member i5, as

shown particularly inFlgs.. 1, 2, 3" and 6. This l tubular member has athick attachingfiange i5*` securedto the outer'face of theabladder wall,andthe tubular member likewise' comprises'a tubular part II projecting.vinteriorly intothe bladder. The wall off'the bladder.- is apertured,

as shownv .more particularly at i1". in Fig.` 6,'theaperture beingsubstantial-ly,- of the same diameter` as the tubular part I6, andtheflange-i5* around the aperture i'iwith vvthevparty i6 'pro--jectingfinto the aperture; In Fig. 6 the outerelement or case'of'thefootbeing'applied to the part I0* of thev bladder'wall`r ball is shownat i8. This, may be vmade of leather or other suitable material.` Withinthe tubular member iiiv is a. suitable, valve member. Inathe structureshown-in Fig. 6 vthisfvalve member is indicated at iand is of:thetypesh'ownin patent to C. J. Crowley, `No.2,011,562; issuedAugust20, 1935. Other typesofinfiatng valves may,A

however, be used, and as one example of this I have shown in Fig. 7 atubular member 20 attached to the apertured portion 2| of the bladderwall andv equipped interiorly with a metal valve 22 of th'e Schradertype. The valve struoture shown in Fig. 6 is adapted to be used inconnection with an inflating needle, as described in the Crowley patentabove mentioned, and the valve shown in Fig. 'I is adapted to be used inconnection with an air hose having the usual e threaded nipple on theend thereof., In manufacturing a football structure suchl a u described,I cut from uncured sheet rubber stock of the proper 'gauge a number ofgores of the general shape shown in Fig. 4. The bladder shown :in Figs.1, 2 and 3 is made of four such gores, but I do not Ilimit myself to anypartic ular number. The gor of unvulcanized rubber are next joinedtogether at their edges to form joints such as disclosed in Fig. 5. Itwill be observed from Fig. that the meeting edge portionsvof adjacentgor are somewhat flanged,

' the edge pontion of eh gore being` turned at ing, which involves theuse of heat and pressure, the adjacent gores are flowed together so asto make the ball of an integral or one-piece structure. As the gores areso joined, their parting lines are eliminated, and as a result each goreis in one piece with the gores on opposite sides of it, and inthe zoneswhere the gores -merge together reinforcing ribs are produced which arein one piece with the ball wall without any iine of. division betweensaid ribs and the ball wall or between different pontions of the ribs.Preferably these ribs project inwardly with respect to the ball, asshown, and have rounded inner surfaces. I'he outer surface of thebladderconforms to the mold, which in this instance is oval, and'thusthe bladder is given the desired contour.

Vulcanization of the bladder; or ball can be effected in any well-knownor desired manner.

It will =be observed that =by my invention the ends of the ball can bevery strongly constructed and the structure is very uniform in that thewall.

of the ball is of the same thickness substantially at the ends thereofas in other parts, and is at ieast as', strong in those locations as inother parts. This is produced =by having the gores entend completely tothe ends of the ball and by havingv the wall portion of the ball betweenlthe reinforcing ribs of a uniform cross- -seetion from one end o'r poleto the other end or pole. No patching of the ends is required- 'I'heball is of the same cross-section across the tips or poles as in otherpants of its wall.

The joints between the gores' are especially strong and durable-inasmuchas the material of .two adjacent gores not only flows together andunites over the normal thickness of the gores, but over a considerablearea in addition to that, owing to the fianged condition of the goreedges, as shown more pa-rticul'arlyin Fig. 5. Thus I provide Ianespecially ystrong joint between the gores which is not likely to openup even under .the hardest usage, and the rib-like reinforcethe desired.uniform inflation of the different parts of the ball.

It will be noted that the ribs which extend across the poles indifferent planes are of su-bstantialfdepth'in relation to the thicknessof the wall stock, and in the form shown are of a depth approximatelyequal to the .thickness of the w-all stock, each having a convex innersurface, these ribs being integral parts of a onepiece bladder preshapedin all pontions .thereof to correspond in contour to the adjacentportions of the enclosing case. The bladder also comprises as anintegral part thereof, as shown an inwardly extending elasticinflating-valveycarrying structure located between certain of the ribsand having `a pant flush with the body whose outer surface is curved inconformity to the curvature of the molded -body wall.

Various changes can be made in .the details of structure withoutdeparting from my invention as defined in the claims. I have notarttempted to illustrate or describe Ithe various forms andmodifications which may be utilized within .the broad principles ofmyinvention.

What I claim is:

1. A football or like ball for use in athletic contests having arelatively stiff case and an inner relatively thin elastic inflatablebladder, said bladder comprising a one-piece molded and vulcanizedcollapsible body having a dense homogeneous wall preshaped in allportions thereof to correspond in contour tothe adjacent portions of theenclosing case, said body having integral interior meridian ribs indifferent planes extending across the poles, and likewise comprising asa part thereof an elastic inating-valve-carrying structure associatedwith the wall between certain ribs and provided with a valve accessibleVfrom the exterior of the case.

2. A football or likev ball for use in athletic contests having arelatively stiff case and an, inner relatively thin elastic inflatablebladder, said bladder comprising a one-piece molded and vulcanizedcollapsible body having a dense homogeneous wall preshaped in allportions thereof 'to correspond in contour to the adjacent portions Vofthe enclosing case, said body having` narrow integral interior ribsextending across the poles in different planes, the portions of the wallbetween the ribs being of uniform thickness substantially throughout thebody, and said body being provided between certain ribs with an inwardlyextending integral elastic inflating-valvecarrying structure providedwith a valve accessible fromv the exterior of the case. 3. A bladder.for footballs and like balls use in athletic contests, said bladdercomprising a one-piece molded and vulcanized collapsible body having athin but dense homogeneous elastic wall requiring external support wheninflated and preshaped in all portions thereof to correspond in contourto the adjacent portions of the enclosing case, said body havingintegral interior ribs extending across the poles in different planes,said ribs being of substantial depth in relation to the thickness of thewall stock, the portions of the l wall between the ribs being ofuniformthickness4 substantially throughout the body including the"portions adjacent the poles, and said body comi prising as an integralpart thereof an elastic in-i ating-valve-carrying structure locatedbetween 1 ments are of material assistance in maintaining one-piecemolded and vulcanized exteriorly 78 smooth collapsible body having athin but dense homogeneous elastic wall requiring external support wheninflated and vpreshaped in all portions thereof, to correspond incontour to the adjacent portions of the enclosing case, said body havingintegral interior ribs extending across the poles in diierent planes,said ribs being o1' a depth approximately equal to the thickness of thewall Astock and each having a convex inner surface,

the portions ofthe wall between the ribs being of uniform thicknesssubstantially throughout the body including the portions adjacent thepoles, and said body comprising as an integral' part thereof aninwardly'extending elastic incertain of said ribs, and having a partflush with the body whose outer surface is curved in conformity to thecurvature of the molded body wall.

5. A bladder for footballs and like balls comprising a on'e-piece moldedand vulcanized collapsible body having a thin but dense homogeneouselastic wall requiring external support when inated and pre-shaped inall portions thereof to correspond in contour to the enclosing case,said body having integral interior ribs of substantial depth in relationto the wall -thickness dening gore-like portions and crossing the poles.

PAUL S. MADSEN.

